cwatkin
ArboristSite Member
I recently purchased 31.5 acres of property with about 1/3 open pasture and 2/3 timber. The timber is moslty a mixture of hardwoods and I have been cutting damaged or dead but not rotten trees for firewood. I recently cut up a black walnut and was told that I probably destroyed some very valuable wood by turning it into firewood.
The black walnut was a blowdown where a creek had undercut the rootwad and fallen on a neighbor's fence. Since the owner of that land lives around 100 miles away, he has a few of the neighbors take care of the place in exchange for the hay, wood, etc. The walnut was still attached at the roots and was still alive and not rotten at all. I cut it with my 16 inch Stihl MS-250 chainsaw and the diameter was just barely smaller than the cutting length of the bar at the base of the tree. The trunk was at least 10 inches are so in diameter and straight for at least 16-20 feet or so. There were very few knotholes and branches along the lower portion of this tree and the wood was beautiful Did I make a mistake cutting this into 12-16 inch lengths for firewood?
I have been told by some that no one will buy an individual tree and that they need at least a flatbed semi trailers worth of wood to make it worth their while. I have also been told that any 8 foot log 8-10 inches or larger in diameter is worth good money if you haul it to a sawmill yourself. Did I destroy something worthy of sale? If so, how much would a tree like this be worth? There are others like it on my property.
Unfortunately the deed is done with this tree but it was in a horrid location for access and I had to carry all the pieces out of the woods by hand. Getting the thing out intact probably would have further damaged/destroyed the neighbor's fence.
Thank you,
Conor
The black walnut was a blowdown where a creek had undercut the rootwad and fallen on a neighbor's fence. Since the owner of that land lives around 100 miles away, he has a few of the neighbors take care of the place in exchange for the hay, wood, etc. The walnut was still attached at the roots and was still alive and not rotten at all. I cut it with my 16 inch Stihl MS-250 chainsaw and the diameter was just barely smaller than the cutting length of the bar at the base of the tree. The trunk was at least 10 inches are so in diameter and straight for at least 16-20 feet or so. There were very few knotholes and branches along the lower portion of this tree and the wood was beautiful Did I make a mistake cutting this into 12-16 inch lengths for firewood?
I have been told by some that no one will buy an individual tree and that they need at least a flatbed semi trailers worth of wood to make it worth their while. I have also been told that any 8 foot log 8-10 inches or larger in diameter is worth good money if you haul it to a sawmill yourself. Did I destroy something worthy of sale? If so, how much would a tree like this be worth? There are others like it on my property.
Unfortunately the deed is done with this tree but it was in a horrid location for access and I had to carry all the pieces out of the woods by hand. Getting the thing out intact probably would have further damaged/destroyed the neighbor's fence.
Thank you,
Conor